I saw something on Pinterest about miraculously getting rid of blackheads by doing a steam facial with lavender essential oil and basil, and then doing a mask out of a baking soda and water paste. I read all of the comments on the blog post about how you had to have all of the ingredients for it to be truly effective, blah blah blah. I've used baking soda as an exfoliant in the past and decided to tweak the directions anyway.

Let me preface my experiment with the following disclaimer--I have really, really tough skin. It's really oily and I've had cystic acne for a long time, and few products have had any effect on it. I've tried drugstore, department store, and prescription products, without a whole lot of luck. So I wasn't really worried about any potential negative effects. If you have sensitive or dry skin, you might not want to try it! And even if your skin type is like mine, use caution and common sense.

I didn't do the steam part since I didn't have any essential oils. So I made a paste out of baking soda and water and applied it to my makeup-free face, rubbing it on for a little physical exfoliation. I've tried a lot of exfoliating cleansers, but can never get the right amount of grit combined with the perfect cleansing formula. I liked that this exfoliated but I could mix it with anything--even just water. However, as I left it on my face, it started to sting. I didn't really notice any effect on the blackheads on my nose and cheeks. The next few days, I used the baking soda only to exfoliate (sometimes mixing it with a cream cleanser), and then rinsed off the mixture right away. You have to rinse rinse rinse really well to get all of the baking soda off. If you don't, the residue can remain on your skin and is a bit drying.

After a few days, I noticed my skin seemed clearer--almost no acne! Although the blackheads only seem a little better, but I'm still really pleased with this cheap solution! The fact that my acne has cleared up so much is really a miracle. So even though this pin didn't quite work as described (ok, I know I didn't do the steam, but I tried it after a shower and the baking soda paste mask still burned!), the adapted use of baking soda to tame acne is super awesome.

“Created to take the heat, like the women who wear it. Heat and perspiration-resistant cosmetics that help improve your skins natural, healthy appearance."

I was really excited about the opportunity to test out rae cosmetics! They care about makeup and fitness too--it seems like so many people think those two interests are mutually exclusive, but it's nice to see that there are companies and consumers who love both.

rae cosmetics promises that their products won't smear, cake, or smudge, no matter what the weather, or what activity you're doing. Their ingredients are hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic, and cruelty-free. They use minimal product packaging to reduce waste, and they donate all of the proceeds from their Smartie lipgloss to Girlstart, a non-profit helping girls succeed in math, science, technology, and engineering. That's awesome.

rae cosmetics sent me their tinted moisturizer, blush, and mascara to test out.

I've already reviewed Red Apple Lipstick brand lipstick, and also their lip pencils, and now, on to the lipgloss ($18.50)! As with the lipstick and lipliners, these glosses are gluten-free, paraben-free, allergen-free, soy-free, cruelty-free, and vegan! I tried three shades from their regular line, Amor Caliente, Bridesmaid, and Metropolis.

Amor Caliente is a shiny candy apple red with a nice shimmery sheen to it. It has medium-pigmentation. Bridesmaid is a lightly pigmented hot pink with lots of sparkle. Metropolis is a nude-pink with a shimmery sheen, low-medium pigmentation.

I love these. The formula is great--really smooth, not too thick and not too thin. The color stays for a decent amount of time, but it moisturizes for hours. These only have a faint fragrance--I can't quite place what it is, but I don't mind it at all, and I'm quite picky about how my makeup smells. I love the large sponge applicator, and I love that you can easily see the color, and how much product remains. The packaging is a tad bit bigger than the average gloss. The biggest drawback is the price. But considering the quality, I'd say it's worth it. AAAAANNNNNDDDD when you participate in their lipstick exchange, you can get them for only $11.99 (be sure to check out the details).

These are awesome. It's pretty tough to impress me when it comes to lip gloss, and I had honestly been pretty skeptical that these lipglosses would compare with department store products, but they absolutely hold their own! It'd be great to see more colors added to the line, especially some highly pigmented pinks or corals! I'm also pretty eager to try the new Peppermints lipglosses, since I love minty glosses.

Check out my first review of Red Apple Lipstick here, if you haven't already! All of the Red Apple products are gluten-free, soy-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, allergen-free, and vegan. And the quality is fabulous.

Red Apple Lipstick recently released their first lip pencils ($20 regular price, currently on sale for $12.50!!). While these products are new to their line, the quality is fabulous.

These colors are super wearable, especially Brick and Mocha. Chocolate is a little too brown for my preference, but it's still quite pretty. The texture is fairly smooth, they're easy to sharpen, and the pigmentation is nice. I find that they last fairly long for me also, although as with all lipliners, they do tend to wear off slightly faster in the middle compared to the edges of my lips. There's no fragrance to these either, which I appreciate. I'm not typically a huge fan of lip pencils, but these are just plain practical to have on hand. My only complaint is that the regular price is a tad bit high, but they're great quality, and for $12.50 (currently on sale), they're a steal!